by Earnest
Winston, Charlotte Observer
Pineville is
having a midlife crisis. At the ripe age of 151 years old.
Saturated with
more than 6 million square feet of retail, this south Mecklenburg County
town is trying to remake itself.
"We have bitten
off more than we can chew," said Mayor George Fowler. "And we realized,
for the benefit of the town, we couldn't keep going that way."
Fearing more
traffic congestion and added strain on police resources, the town
council twice this year has turned down large retail developments -- and
says what it would really like is for some folks to come build
single-family houses.
It's quite a
turnaround for the 5-square-mile town, long known as the city that never
said no to new shopping as it emerged as the hub of southern Mecklenburg
retail. Altogether, Pineville has roughly one-sixth of Mecklenburg's
more than 35 million square feet of retail stores.
Now, town
officials say it's time to stop as they seek to reduce the scale of
development. In addition to curbing town costs and making the town more
attractive to new residents, slowing retail growth, planners say, would
help ease the competition among retailers.
The plethora of
shopping centers suits Pineville resident Janice Long just fine -- to an
extent.
"I like the
convenience of it, but I don't like the traffic," she said. "I don't go
out on weekends if I can help it."
Compared with
the rapid growth all around it, Pineville's population grew by just 16
percent during the '90s, from 2,970 to 3,449.
Pineville,
settled by Scots-Irish immigrants more than 250 years ago, got its name
in 1852 and was incorporated in 1873, said Joe Griffin Sr., the town's
unofficial historian. The town began as a farm community and remained so
until the late 1890s, when what is known today as Cone Mill was built.
Looking toward
the future, town leaders say they want to create more single-family
homes -- and larger ones -- to drive up the population. Nearly
three-quarters of the housing is multifamily.
In two years,
Fowler says, he wants the number of single-family houses to double, for
a total of 1,600. Pineville has more than 500 acres available for
residential development. About 750 townhomes or single-family homes have
been approved by the city or are under construction.
Zoning
administrator and planner David Barley said town officials are talking
with a local company, Cambridge Partners, about a project that would
include housing, office and retail uses near Carolina Place Mall. The
planning staff expects to receive an application for the project this
summer.
Planning
started late
But some
people question whether it's too late for Pineville to start paying
attention to building its residential base. Most cities start with
housing, then pursue retail to strengthen the tax base.
Bill McCoy,
former director of UNC Charlotte's Urban Institute, said Pineville will
have a tough time attracting homeowners, who crave peace and less
congestion.
"It's sort of
hard to find that in Pineville," he said. "It seems to me that every
road down there is overwhelmed."
Four years ago,
Pineville hired Mike Rose, the town's first full-time planner, to create
a vision and a land-use plan. The plan's goals include identifying areas
for future residential growth, encouraging retail and residential infill
development, and reducing congestion.
But when Rose
came on board, the retail boom was already in full swing. It was spurred
by the promise of the Interstate 485 outerbelt, the widening of N.C. 51
and the opening of Pineville's Carolina Place Mall in 1991, said
Charlotte real estate analyst Frank Warren, president of Warren
Associates.
"Once the mall
opened, that created the regional draw, and their dominance in the
marketplace has accelerated," Warren said.
Too fast, too
soon
Mayor Pro Tem
Kenny Mills said he realized difficult days were ahead for Pineville
when the mall opened.
"I knew then we
were in trouble," he said. "I could see the handwriting on the wall."
But town leaders
admit they weren't savvy enough and didn't have the tools to deal with
all the growth that came their way. Last year, the town council changed
the zoning laws to have better control over large-scale development.
"When you look
at something and you see that a large development wants to be in your
town ... you see the tax values surrounding that (and) I think the
tendency is to think this is really going to give us a solid
foundation," Fowler said.
"But you don't
realize at that particular point the impact it's going to have on the
services you have to provide."
And approving
Wal-Mart, which the town was asked to do in March, they say, would have
buried the town even further. It was determined that the 24-hour-a-day
operation, which would have been located off U.S. 421 near I-485, would
not generate enough money to offset the additional police resources. A
tax hike -- on top of the 9-cent property tax increase passed last year
-- would have become a possibility.
More police
officers would have been needed, too. Today, 96 percent of the police
calls come from commercial properties. And the $2.2 million it costs to
operate the force is neck-and-neck with the $2.3 million in property
taxes the town is expecting to rake in this year.
Fowler said
Wal-Mart would have put the town in a peculiar spot. Town officials said
at least two police officers would've been needed to monitor the store
and respond to calls. The price tag: more than $120,000.
"That would have
been the straw that broke the camel's back," Fowler said.
Wal-Mart
representatives, however, said the store would use its own security
guards and cameras. And an attorney representing the retail giant has
said the store would generate at least $100,000 in sales, property and
other taxes and fees for the town.
Daphne Moore,
community affairs manager with Wal-Mart, said the store would have been
an economic boon for Pineville.
"We pay more
than our fair share," she said.
Town officials
said they welcome mixed-use development at the site where Wal-Mart
wanted to locate. But large commercial development? Forget about it.
"We can't take
any more," Mills said.
Quick Facts About Pineville
• Site of a memorial for James K. Polk, 11th
president of the United States.
• Has the only municipally owned telephone
company in North Carolina. The town also operates its own power company.
Population:
3,449
Total
households: 1,632
Source:
Pineville Town Hall; U.S. Census Bureau, 2000 report.
